Frank w



Patented Dec. 20, |898.

F. W. WOOD.. SWITCH FOR SPEAKING TUBES.

(Application Bled Sept. 16, 1898.)

(No Model.)

WTNESSES:

ATTORNEY 45 appear.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.v

FRANK XV. IVOOD, OF NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR T CHARLES OORY AND JOHN M. CORY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SWITCH FOR SPEAKING-TUBES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 616,175, dated December 20, 1898. Application ined september 16,1898. serai No. 691,090. (No modem two separate pipes, one or the other of which receives and conveys away the voice,l according as the interior parts are turned.

T0 all whom it may concern.-

e it known that I, FRANK \V.NVOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newport News, in the countyof Warwick, in B is a easing, of brass `or other suitable 5 the State of Virginia, have invented a certain rigid material, having a generally cylindrical 55 new and useful Improvement in Switches for form ofless size than that of the casing A, so Speaking-Tubes, of which the followingY is a that it may be' easily turned therein. specification. is a lever fixed on one side of the turn- My invention is intended to serve in any Ving part B. I have shown it as fixed on the lo position where it may be required to direct the shaft B2, on which the turning part B is 6o voice at will into one of two or more pipes or mounted and turns, being supported and passages. It is particularly useful on steamguided by shaft-bearings A4, constituting a ships, where it may be important for the ofpart of the casing A, so that the part B can cer of the deck to communicate with the enbe easily turned tothe required limited ex,

x5 gineer and with another or others, as the man tent by the hand applied to the lever B. This 65 at the helm, the captain in his saloon, or some turning part B is hollow and has an inducother oiiicer, as the sailing-master. tion-opening b extending a considerable dis- I will describe the invention as applied on tance around the periphery. rlhereis also an shipboard to direct the voice simply into one eduction-openng bj, which by turning the zo of two divergent pipes, one to the helmsman handle to a small extent can be brought to co- 7o and one to the engineer. incide with one or the other of the pipes A2 A I provide a smooth and gently-curved pasat will. sage for the voice through the switch. I ef- I provide a short tube of an interior diamefect this by providing a metal -lined tube cater coinciding with that of the pipes A A2 A3,

2 5 pable of holding itself properly extended and peculiarly constructed and arranged to per- 75 yet bending to the required moderate extent form the important function of maintaining and mount this within a metal casing, which a continuous passage of uniform size from the latter turns in a stationary casing, much in pipe A' to either the pipe A2 or A3, as may be the manner of what is known as a threerequired, and preventing the voice from trav- 3o way cock; but the parts may be lighter and ersing the pipe which is thus thrown out of 8o less nicely finished. The turning may be connection. It is composed of a continuous effected by alever connected to the turning homogeneous tube D of vulcanized rubber, portion of the metal. an exterior tube Dzof iibrous materialbraided he accompanying drawings form a part of or knit together, and an interior tube D of 35 this specification and represent what I conmetal in the form of a helically-bent wire, 85 Sider the best means of carrying out the inspring-tempered and of suiiicient size to mainvention. tain the fullness and perfection of form of the Figure 1 is a side elevation with the pipes more yielding material of D' and D2 outside omitted. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section, thereof, and yet suiiciently elastic to easily 4o and Fig. 3 is a corresponding section at right bend to the required extent and to again re- 9o angles thereto with the flexible tube and a sume its original form when permitted. The

washer at one end thereof in elevation. entire tube, composed, first, of the inner layer Similar letters of reference indicate correl) of spiral wire, next the continuous tube D spending parts in all the lgures where they of soft vulcanized rubber, and,..third, the

' fibrous enveloping tube or covering D2, manu 95 factured from yarn,-is firmly engaged in a socket A8 at the point where the pipe A'connects with the casing A. The other end of this compound yielding pipe is held in the opening big, carried in the casing ll. So long 10o A is aiixed casing, of brass or other suitable matcrial, having a gcnerall y cylindrical form. p

A' is the pipe, which brings the voice from 5o a mouthpiece, (not showin) and A2 and A3 are and nowhere else.

as the handle B' is held in one position the delivery end of the pipe D coincides with the pipeA2and Words spoken into the pipe A' are communicated freely through the pipe D into the pipe A2 and are heard in the engine-room IVhen, on the contrary, the casing B and the flexible tube D D' D2 are turned at an angle of about forty-five degrecs, the words spoken into the pipe A' are conducted through the bent tube DDD2into the pipe A3 and are heard in the pilot-house alone.

. I provide means, as frictional projections A5, for making a sulicient friction with the lever B to hold the turning parts firmly in place, and I provide a stop, in the form of a screw A7, at each of the'points proper to arrest the turningr of the lever B', so that it is certain to coincide exactly with the proper pipe When it is turned to the extreme extent that these stops will allow.

I attach importance to the construction of the pipe D D' D2 with different layers for the reason that the internal layer, being metal, will carry the sound without loss. The next tube is continuousandholds thesoundagainst spreading, and the third layer D2, of fibrous material, is Well adapted to endure Wear and serves as atasteful finish.

Modifications may be made without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advan tages of the invention. Other means, as a pin engaging in holes, may be provided in place of the frictional projections A'rand the stops A" to hold the part ll in the correct position exactly coincident with the tube A2 or A3, as the case may be, into which it is desired to direct the voice.

The rubber tube D' ing with rubber cement be caused to.` adhere to the helical Wire l) on the inside or to the fibrous coating Dl on the outside, or both.

larts of the invention can be used without the whole. The librous coating on the exterior of' the rubber maybe dispensed with.

I claim as my inventionl. The pipes A', A2, A3, and the flexible pipe D' kept constantly connected with the pipe A', and changeably connected with the other pipes, in combination with a partiallyrevoluble casing B, controlling said flexible pipe and means for turning the casing and flexible pipe to the required extent at will, all substantially as herein specified.

2. The pipes A', A2, A3, and the flexible pipe D' kept constantly connected with the may by properly coatpipe A' and changeably connected with the other pipes, in combination with a partiallyrevoluble casing B controlling said flexible pipe and means for turning the casing and flexible pipe to the Irequired extent at will, and for holding the parts in the position required, all substantially as herein specified.

3. The pipes A', A2,A3, and the flexible pipe D' kept constantly connected with the pipe A', by being received in a socket A8 adjacent thereto, and changeably connected with the other pipes, in combination with a partially-revoluble casing B, having a long hole b and a smaller hole big, substantially as herein specified.

4. The pipes A', A2, A3,' and the. flexible pipe D' having a metal lining D, kept constantly connected with -the pipe A'and changeably connected .with the other pipes, in combination with a partially-revoluble casing B controlling said flexible pipe, having the arm or lever B', and with the frictional projections A5 and stops A7, all arranged for joint operation substantially as herein specified.

5. 'lhe pipes A', A2, A3, and the flexible pipe Dkept constantly connected with the pipe A' and changeably connected with the other pipes, in combinationwith a partiallyrevoluble casing B, controlling said flexible pipe and means for turning the casing and ilexible pipe to the required extent at will, and with the coiled spring D arranged to perform the double function of a metal lining to preserve the sound and of a resilient case o1-9o spring to maintain the distention of the flexible pipe D', all substantially as herein specified.

6. The pipes A', A2, A3, andthe flexible pi pe D' of rubber or analogous material, with the metal layer D in its interior and the fibrous layer Dion its exterior all in contact and serving together as a single pipe having the properties' described, kept constantly connected with the pipe A' and changeably connected with the other pipes, in combination with a partially-revolu ble easing B controlling said flexible pipe, and means for turning the casing and flexible pipe to the required extent at will, all substantially as herein specified. In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK W. WOOD. Witnesses W. J. NELMS, l W. M. TAYLOR, Jr. 

